She was Minister of Employment and Social Security from December 2011 until June 2018, when a vote of no-confidence against Mariano Rajoy ousted the government.

Báñez was a member of the Spanish Parliament during the seventh, the eighth, the ninth and the tenth terms, representing Huelva Province.

In this capacity, she held the following positions: On 22 December 2011, Mariano Rajoy appointed her Minister of Employment and Social Security, replacing Valeriano Gómez[2] Unemployment at that time was the most serious problem for Spaniards, according to the Spanish Center for Sociological Research.

This measure gained the support of the European Commission,[4] the Bank of Spain[5] and the OCDE,[6] but it couldn't get the approval of the trade unions.

[12] Her reforms are widely credited with helping reduce unemployment, which stood at 18.9% in later 2016, still the second highest rate in the European Union after Greece.